The Lighthouse Specialist Centre for Deaf Children offers deaf children and their families highly specialised educational provision in the inclusive mainstream school setting of Guildford Grove.

We are unique to Surrey, in that we offer sign supported communication to deaf children.  Our Lighthouse children are full and active members of their mainstream classes, enjoying a rich and varied school curriculum, while also getting the support they need to develop their language skills.

Meeting Your Child’s Communication Needs

Deaf children learn to communicate in different ways to suit their needs.  This could be through speaking and listening, using British Sign Language (BSL), or a combination of speech and sign (sign supported English – SSE).  At The Lighthouse, we offer a ‘Total Communication’, an approach which allows for all three of these communication methods.  This flexibility allows us to offer an entirely child-centred approach to language and communication, ensuring deaf children’s individual needs are met.

Where appropriate, we encourage deaf children to develop their residual hearing and speech skills as much as possible, through weekly speech and language therapy sessions, learning visual phonics, and using SSE.  We provide remote microphone systems for children who are confident hearing aid/cochlear implant users, and offer daily technical checks for audiology equipment.

We mainly use SSE to help deaf children learn how to lip-read, speak, and read.  When they are ready to learn to read, many of our children learn Signed English to help support their understanding of English grammar.  Where appropriate, we can provide BSL to a high standard, with Deaf adults on our teaching staff acting as excellent role-models.

To support communication at home, we offer a range of information and resources to parents.  These could be in the form of picture symbols (widgets) to help your child understand what is happening through the day, or to use to make requests.  We can send home sets of BSL signs to help with new topic vocabulary, signing dictionaries and topic books.  ‘Family Signing’ sessions are offered by our teaching team.

Facilities at The Lighthouse

Audiology (Listening Equipment)

All hearing aids, cochlear implant processors and brainstem implant processors are checked daily by members of the Lighthouse teaching team.  Staff training is kept up-to-date through in-house training or advisory visits.

We have soundfield systems in the school hall and most classrooms.

Remote microphone systems are provided in accordance with children’s EHCPs in consultation with implant centers/audiology clinics and Surrey Education Audiology department.

All classrooms have carpets and blinds in order to improve listening conditions for deaf children.  The school dining hall and Foundation Stage classrooms have acoustic treatment panels to reduce noise reverberation.

Children with Physical Disabilities/Additional Special Educational Needs

Guildford Grove is equipped with three hoisting systems for wheelchair users in the disabled toilet, the sensory room, and the main school hall.  The whole school is wheelchair accessible with ramps and automatic doors to maximise access. We have a fully-equipped disabled toilet with a changing bed.

We have long-standing experience of working with deaf children who have English as an additional language, or have additional special needs such as Multi-Sensory Impairment, CHARGE Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, ADHD and deaf children with English as an additional language

Our team has experience and training in:-

  •  Visual-Impairment
  •  Multi-Sensory Impairment
  •  Cochlear implant and hearing aid management
  •  Specialist SEN ICT packages
  •  Behaviour Support
  •  Resuscitation
  •  Manual Handling
  • Cerebral Palsy

Speech and Language Therapy Room

Our purpose-build speech and language therapy room offers distraction-free environment for pupils during their therapy sessions.  This room is also available at different points in the week for one-to-one activities such as reading or ‘booster’ sessions for learning new curriculum language and concepts.

The Sensory Room

We also have a purpose-built sensory room at the Lighthouse providing a distraction free, calm and welcoming environment to meet the sensory and physical needs of the children.

The sensory room can be adapted to meet specific needs.  Sometimes a child may need time to calm down, to rest, or to carry out personal exercise programmes in a safe and comfortable room.  The different equipment in the sensory room can be used to meet these needs, or to support the children in developing their interaction and communication with others.

The equipment is wireless and switch operated, allowing for maximum access and flexibility.   There is also a hoisting system, so that all children can move around the room and lie in comfort on the matting or bean bags, regardless of physical abilities.

The sensory room equipment includes:

  • colour changing wall wash
  • bubble tube
  • mirror ball and projector
  • fibre optic curtain and floor strands
  • colour-match panel game
  • voice/switch activated fireworks panel
  • music and vibration bean bag
  • trampoline
  • visual and tactile board
  • a range of sensory toys

 

The Lighthouse Kitchen

The fully-equipped kitchen facilities offer an environment for messy play, art activities and cooking.  Weekly cooking sessions offer cross-curricular learning through creating a variety of sweet and savoury dishes linked to our language learning and school topics.  In these sessions our youngest children learn how to take turns, to follow instructions, to carry out actions such as cutting and stirring.  As they get older, they begin to learn about food and equipment safety, to instruct others, and  evaluate what they have made using descriptive language.

Lighthouse Staff

 

Teachers of the Deaf:

Melanie Harrington – Lighthouse SEND Strategic Lead

Siobhan Walsh – Foundation & KS1 Teacher of the Deaf

Amy Crimmins – KS2 Teacher of the Deaf in Training

Niks Michenson – KS2 Teacher of the Deaf in Training

 

Specialist Speech & Language Therapists:

Kalifa Coleman-Best, Josanne Killeya, Catherine Powell

 

Specialist Teaching Assistants [Deafness & Disability]:

Amal Ahmad

Lisa Allison

Jono Bennett

Samantha Bones

Chloe Davis

Tracy Davis

Louise Dyas

Esther Ferguson

Hannah Knell

Thea McConnell

Danielle McCrohan (Maternity Leave)

Becky Mitchelson

Tania Parslow

Philippa Rees

Nellea Snelling

Karen Thorn

The Lighthouse Curriculum

The majority of deaf children attend The Lighthouse for daily small group or one-to-one lessons in language acquisition, English and mathematics, all delivered by specialist teaching staff. Targets for achievement are set out in each child’s provision map following their EHCP paperwork.  We teach through a lot of first-hand experiences such as creative arts, drama, cookery and real-life experiences such as visits to a fire station or farm.

We monitor pupils’ progress through observations and regular assessment tasks, with evidence being recorded on B-Squared, an assessment tool that records progress and helps to identify children’s ‘next steps’ for learning.

Lighthouse Parents & Families

We offer family signing sessions on request, as well as a parents’ lending library of BSL dictionaries, books, BSL topic flashcards, and communication fans (symbols).  If you would like to talk to your teacher of the deaf about sign language support or want to find out more about our lending library, please write a message in your child’s home-school book.  You are also very welcome to call the school or contact LHadmin@guildfordgrove.surrey.sch.uk

 

Learning British Sign Language

Sign for Thoughts

Dot Sign Language

A local charity, Chloe’s and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund [CSSEF], can offer grants to help support parents wanting to learn to sign.  Please click here to see further information.

Support Groups & Events for Families

Surrey Deaf Children’s Society provides support and advice to parents of deaf children, as well as regular opportunities to meet other families for some great days out or just a coffee and chat.  Click here to link to their website.

The National Deaf Children’s Society also holds events for parents and families in the South East, gives information about different aspects of deafness, and can support and advise parents.  Click here to link to their website.

There are lots of ways you can practise sign language.  Here are some links to T.V. programmes, games and free downloads:

Click here for some great children’s TV programmes all with British Sign Language.

Click here for a fingerspelling game.

Click here for more information, games and apps to help with learning sign language.

Stuck for a sign?  Click here to try searching in the on-line BSL dictionary.